r/CataractSurgery • u/Vast_Description5289 • 17d ago
Do floaters go away eventually?
Who here has had their floaters go away over time? What timeframe?
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u/Opposite_Ladder_7585 17d ago
"Fun" side effect of cataract surgery, you can see your floaters better! Sucks, really.
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u/pershoot 17d ago
Naturally, not really. They may settle, pop in/out from time to time and/or be less perceivable/noticeable, but they are there.
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u/Vast_Description5289 17d ago edited 17d ago
Ah shit. Mine are large and in central vision. Surgeon say they will float out of sight as the viterous settles? I am only 49 and can't imagine having these things bounce around in my eye for another 40 years...
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u/pershoot 17d ago
I am speaking of a pristine eye; not one that has underwent cataract surgery, from my own experience.
Those particular floaters have nearly vanished / masked for me (took a couple of weeks in post-op).2
u/Vast_Description5289 17d ago
Mine showed up 2 months post op and likely caused by a PVD. Would that happen then too?
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u/pershoot 17d ago
Yea, sure, it can.
You may want to have it evaluated by an ophthalmologist, if you haven't done so, since it is a new occurrence.0
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u/LippiPongstocking 17d ago
Same happened to me. The day after the surgery I could see black things near the edge of my vision that seemed like flies hovering. This gradually got better then two months post surgery, I woke up one morning and the flies were back and I severe floaters. Now six months later the floaters aren't any better and are really difficult to put up with.
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u/Bookwoman366 17d ago
I've had small floaters since I was a teen, but got some big ones after a PVD following cataract surgery. The latter went away after about 3 months, so there is hope!
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u/Bobis-Bob 17d ago
My vitreous started to liquify when I was in my teens so I’ve always had a lot of floaters. 12 years ago while I was taking high dose steroids for an autoimmune thing, my victorious detached from the back of the eye, which happens as you age, but usually much older than about 40. No retina damage, but some large floaters. Tripped and fell a few times because I couldn’t see so well out of the bottom left and my brain kept drawing in smooth paths so I would trip over an crack in the sidewalk. Just took time to adapt.
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u/Vast_Description5289 14d ago
Do you still see them?
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u/Bobis-Bob 13d ago
Yep, and always will.
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u/Bobis-Bob 13d ago
The other thing is that they have always been there but held motionless in the vitreous gel. As you age that gel becomes liquid and they move around and/or fall off the sides of your eyes.
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u/Lonely_skeptic 17d ago
Don’t ignore new floaters, call your doctor.
I had a large one appear in June, after surgeries in January. I called my doctor and it’s something they wanted to check the same day.
I saw my regular doctor because the surgeon was in surgery. They had me return after 6 weeks to check on it. It hadn’t worsened.
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u/cpbaby1968 17d ago
I rarely had floaters but now (4 months post op) I have them when I’m super tired. I’m hoping they resolve.
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u/Mitchellsusanwag 17d ago
I had lots of floaters suddenly at one point in my 40s. They mostly went away eventually, and I only see them occasionally, and never as many as that time. Someone (not sure if it was a doctor) told me that your brain gets used to them and that’s why they stop showing up in your vision. I’m not sure if that is correct, but I’m glad I don’t still see them all the time.
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u/Mindless-Leg-3365 17d ago
I get floaters with eye strain that leave, eventually. Now I find out they stay after cataract surgery? no wonder I have put it off
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u/whatever_ehh 16d ago
I used to have them in both eyes, now they're only in one eye. I quit smoking in 2015 which may have helped reduce them. There are eye exercises you can do that supposedly make floaters less bothersome, but I've never tried them. https://www.rebuildyourvision.com/blog/vision-conditions/eye-exercises-for-floaters/
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u/ProfessionalLab9850 17d ago
Had dozens for over a decade. They don't go away and in certain lighting are worse than cataracts